Any suggestion on how to reclaim a sand ring that has been overgrown with weeds? Many can be hand pulled after a good rain, but one end is pretty much solid grass/weeds. Would rather stay away from chemical weed killers, but will use them if it will be the easiest 'one time' cure.

egontoast

Jul. 10, 2010, 02:03 PM

We had to deal with this a couple of times. . Dragging was not the right solution because we had several heavy truckloads of weeds to pick up and lost a lot of sand in the process.

The next time we had to deal with this we mowed it first with the lawn tractor, then dragged.

Not ideal because you are spreading the seeds but this worked better and provided the ring was dragged often regularly after that, it was fine.

Good luck.

CB/TB

Jul. 11, 2010, 10:43 AM

Hand pull what you can then Round-UP spray the rest. It will work and is safe. There are other eco-friendly sprays out there. Also, I think vinegar will kill weeds????

jazzrider

Jul. 11, 2010, 11:10 AM

I have someone coming this week with a propane flame thrower (I'm sure there's a name for it) to burn the weeds in my ring this week. We're going to weed whack some of it today in advance. When she's done, we plan to harrow (and do it more regularly -- that's how we got to this point with the weeds. No time to harrow:o). I'll probably spray the corners and under the fence to ward off more incursions.

My ring is bluestone, not sand. Not sure if the propane thing would be a problem with sand...

Twiliath

Jul. 11, 2010, 11:59 AM

The flame thrower is a flame "weeder". "Thrower" works for me! :D My hubby has been burning the ring for a couple of weeks now. However, I'm sure we've seeded a lot for next year too.

Other options: Industrial strength vinegar is 20% acetic acid vs. home vinegar which is only 5% acetic acid. Yes, it's supposed to work (kill weeds), but it's rather expensive. But that depends on your definition of "expensive." I would've gone that route if hubby hadn't bought himself a flame weeder.

Corn gluten meal - considered by some to be a fertilizer, it's also a "seed germination inhibitor" meaning that it prevents seeds from spouting. CGM is about $40/40 lb. bag and covers 5,000 sq. ft. Again, somewhat expensive. But I was seriously considering that too. In fact, I may still use it to prevent the seeds already in the footing that I have (using the term "footing" loosely) from germinating so that we don't have to go through the flaming again. Hubby doesn't get around to it until the weeds and grass already have seed heads on them. As in, way too late.